[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E905-E906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        COVER THE UNINSURED WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 19, 2004

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, last week was Cover the 
Uninsured Week, I rise today to salute an organization which is working 
to do just that, working to provide assistance to some of the 44 
million Americans who can not afford health insurance today.
  Dr. Dana Kuhn, President and Co-founder of Patient Services 
Incorporated (PSI), is a policy entrepreneur who thinks outside the box 
on how to provide health insurance coverage for those with chronic and 
catastrophic illnesses. PSI has successfully found a potential solution 
to this epidemic problem, which affects 44 million of our fellow 
Americans.
  Since PSI was established in 1989, this national non-profit has 
worked with struggling

[[Page E906]]

families afflicted with such disorders as Hemophilia, Alpha One 
Antitrypsin Deficiency, Colorectal Cancer and Breast Cancer, Crohn's 
Disease, and Immune Deficiencies, just to name a few. PSI assists by 
identifying health insurance policies as well as subsidizing the health 
insurance premiums and pharmacy co-payments for these families. PSI is 
financially supported through private donations from individuals, 
pharmaceutical manufacturers, foundations, and other corporations and 
uses these donations to ensure affordable health insurance coverage for 
the uninsured and underinsured.
  PSI has a 15-year success rate of putting the uninsured and 
underinsured back to work by providing a bridge from insecurity and 
disease to one of accessing affordable duality health care therapies. 
During its 15 years of existence, PSI has helped about 20,000 
Americans. The PSI model works to provide Americans with millions of 
dollars worth of medical care for just 5% of the total cost of care.
  PSI saves middle-class families from becoming financially devastated 
when they have a family member with an expensive chronic illness. It is 
the only non-profit of its kind providing health insurance premium 
assistance and pharmacy copayment assistance. In 2002, PSI received a 
positive Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector 
General Opinion for the work it does with Medicare Part B Copayments, 
Deductibles, and Medigap Premiums.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to salute Dr. Kuhn 
and the staff of Patient Services Incorporated for their hard work and 
resourcefulness in developing a workable solution for the epidemic of 
uninsured Americans.

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